“Like this is the reason why I never felt complete.” And suddenly he was glad for the dark, because he was overwhelmed by a sudden need to weep.
“Like you’re missing a part of yourself,” Mira said. “Like you’ll never be whole.”
Ethan noticed how Colin made two rapid swipes of his face. “Mira.”
“I want to tell him, Daddy.”
He did not reply. Instead, Ethan started the engine and rolled down all the windows. Then he cut the motor. And sat there. Staring at the empty street and the night.
“I’m a twin,” Mira said. “Half of a broken whole. One that will never, ever be complete.”
Ethan breathed deep.
Colin turned in his seat and watched as Mira tucked her feet up under her. Sitting cross-legged. Her eyes glowed warm and soft in the streetlights. “What happened?”
“I was sixteen months old. My brother hadn’t been healthy since we were born. His name …” She stopped and wiped her eyes.
“Bacha,” Ethan said softly. “It’s the Pashto word for king.”
“My parents took us to a clinic run by the Americans. It was next to the main air base. My aunt and uncle were there as well, and my grandparents. Everybody with something they wanted the American doctor to check out.”
“It was often like that,” Ethan said. “One person comes, everybody who can walk tags along. Some of the things they’d been living with, you wouldn’t believe.”
Mira went on, “We were standing in line to be seen by the doctor. The medic who took our details was a wonderful, beautiful man named Ethan.” She unfurled her legs and slid forward to drape her hand over her father’s shoulder. “And that was when the world exploded.”
“You don’t remember that.” He reached up to grasp her hand.
“I remember the light. The sound. The way I went flying from my father’s arms.”
“You remember what I told you.”
“I remember, Daddy.”
Ethan shrugged. “It was a car bomb. Planted outside the main gates. But they meant to take out the clinic as well. We were winning the minds and hearts of the locals. They couldn’t let that happen.”
“We were the only two people who survived. My entire family, gone. Ethan was injured, but just the same he went looking through the rubble. Searching to see if anyone else was still living.”
“And there you were,” Ethan said. “Your eyes shining like two dark jewels. Your body coated in dust. And still you didn’t cry. You just reached for me.”
“And you never let me go. Did you, Daddy.”
“I couldn’t. You were already my little girl.” To Colin, “The base chaplain was a good friend. He and his wife took her in. I finished my tour and came home and got busy with the paperwork.”
“First, you had to convince Momma.”
“My bride of six weeks before I shipped out.” Ethan was smiling now. “Surprise, surprise. Alexi claims she already loved you long before I got home.”
“From the first time she saw my photograph, that’s what she says.” To Colin, “That’s how Daddy and Roland became friends. He’s a family lawyer. He fought everybody until they let me be adopted.”
“And we’ve stayed friends,” Ethan said. “Despite him and Regina being seriously afflicted with the Democrat bug.”
“Daddy keeps hoping they’ll come around. He’s the eternal optimist in our family,” Mira said. “Dear sweet Lucas is the worst of the lot.”
Colin was still coming to terms with everything he had just learned. “This is …”
“Amazing. I know.”
He could see they were ready to go. The intimate moment was fading now. Colin opened his door. “Whatever happens about, you know, my investment, I just want to say, this was maybe the nicest evening I’ve ever had.”
